Networking technology has developed a large network of networks, referred to as the Internet, which interconnects millions of computers around the world. The Internet allows the transfer of data between any number of computer systems connected to the Internet using the Transmission Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). Computers responding to service requests from other computers, via the Internet, are commonly referred to as servers, and computers that initiate requests for service from a server are referred to as clients.
The Internet has become very popular in part due to the World Wide Web (WWW), which is a network of links to hypertext documents operating within the Internet. These hypertext documents are referred to as either Web documents, Web pages, or hypertext documents. Web documents are embedded with directly accessible connections or links to other documents which create a non-linear way of reading the document. The links are embedded in Web documents as a phrase of text or an image which can be selected and activated by a computer user. Information about the Web documents are controlled and provided by Web servers. At the user's end, a Web client takes the user's requests and passes them on to the Web server. A collection of related Web documents maintained by a single company or other entity is often referred to as a Web site.
The Web documents are written with a high level programming language referred to as the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Commands of the HTML, popularly known as tags, provide a variety of functions including, but not limited to, defining special format and layout information in a Web document, embedding images and sound in a Web document, and embedding links to other Web documents.
In order to access, process, and display a Web document, a client uses a set of instructions, referred to as a browser. The browser typically includes a set of browser commands corresponding to the tags available in the HTML. Each browser command in turn points to a procedure of one or more instructions defining the command which, when executed, provide a functionality of the respective command. If the client requires service from the Web server, the browser uses the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to communicate with the server.
The browser compares each tag found embedded in a Web document with the set of browser commands. Once a match is found, the browser executes the procedure corresponding to the match browser command in order to provide the functionality of the respective command.
Recently, some Web sites have begun offering users navigation-like aids. For example, some Web sites allow users to request the location of a tourist attraction or other location (e.g., a restaurant) and provide a map or a series of directions to the location in question. Often the Web sit provider will charge a user fee for this service or instead may charge a fee to the restaurant owners and others who wish to have the location of their business, etc. accessible in this manner. In this fashion, the Internet and the World Wide Web is becoming a useful tool for locating fixed sites. What is lacking, however, is a way for a user to locate a mobile remote object using such technology.